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So, I’ve been here for about two weeks now, and training is really starting to pick up. We’re starting peer teaching next week, where we prepare one lesson and give different parts and varying lengths to our peers. My topic is “The Importance of Superior Vegetables”, whi ch is a pretty easy lesson. I plan on bringing in different items made from plant parts. For example, tô, which is a staple meal here made from corn, or bissap, which is a drink made from hibiscus flowers (and is really good!).
In other news, the new stagiares arrived today. This makes our stage the largest Burkina Faso has ever seen, and is single handedly doubling the total number of volunteers in country. For those of you confused about this, we (secondary education volunteers) arrived 2 weeks prior to the rest of the sectors because our training is longer. The new stagiares work in the following sectors: girls education and empowerment, health, and small enterprise development. This brings the grand total of stagiares to about 80! This is a lot of white people running around one small Burkinabe city. This will seriously affect their economy here for a few months. I’m really glad I came first with the smaller group because it’s much easier to be introduced to a new country with only 22 people, rather than 60. We had a nice amount of time to get to know each other, and to discover our way around Ouahigouya.
So, very similar to Guinea, small children here are get really excited about white people. They chase after us on our bikes, wave, and yell “Bonjour!”. The word here for white person is Nasara, so this is something I hear quite often, and actually respond to ha. In this culture, it is not dispectable to call someone a name refering to their skin color/race. It is actually more of a compliment. I was fully prepared for this, but one thing I never heard in Guinea are children calling me “Le Blanche” (The White). It was a little bizarre at first, but then I found it kind of funny… I’m sure this will stop being funny soon though ha. I have a stagiare who lives directly next door to me, so in the morning I wait in front of her compound with my bike so we can ride to school together. Well, last week, a few of the neighborhood little kids started to notice this weird white person standing out there. One kid was scared and ran away, but the others were intrigued. After they realized I was harmless, they started to like me. Now, in the morning while I wait, these kids line up, salute me, and yell at the same time, “Bonjour, Le Blanche!” (Good morning, the white!).
Monday, June 28, 2010
The Red Dust Storm
So, the most amazing/crazy/bizarre thing happened today. We were sitting in a panel discussion talking about the importance of women’s education in Burkina when we noticed the sky started turning dark. It looked like the sky before a thunderstorm, so I assumed it meant rain. I was super excited about this because when it rains, which isn’t very often here, it cools the temperatures down a lot! The next thing I know, the sky turned reddish-orange. I’m not talking a light orange sky like we sometimes have in America. I’m talking burnt-sienna (thanks crayola), and then the wind started to pick up and we were in a full fledge dust storm! We had to go inside the building because there was dust everywhere. We couldn’t breathe or see through all the dust! This lasted about 30 minutes or so, then the sky started to clear and the storm stopped. I left my bedroom window open that day, and when I returned home after school my entire room was covered in a red layer of dust. All my books, clothes, and bed were covered. That’s the last time I leave my window open for the Harmattan!
The Land of the Upright People
I landed in Burkina, my new home for the new two years, about a week and a half ago. It’s been crazy, busy, and exciting starting Peace Corps all over again. We had our staging (a Peace Corps orientation) in Philadelphia and it only lasted about 5 hours. It was almost the exact same set up as last time. We discussed the goals and purposes of Peace Corps, our anxieties and anticipations, and did a few awkward ice breakers. For those of you who do not know, Peace Corps has three main goals, which they base a volunteers service upon. They are:
1. Filling the need of trained people to interested countries
2. Teaching other countries about America and it’s people
3. Teaching Americans about other countries
These are just summarized in my own words, but I’m sure you get the point. The main focus of the goals in cross-cultural exchange. This is an important part of a volunteer’s service. This allows us to integrate into communities and successfully do our job here. Integration is also a key factor in our safety here. If we can successfully integrate into our communities and become a respected member, life here will be much easier, and funner, for a two year service.
After staging, we headed off to Burkina. The entire trip took about one whole day, and was successfully completed without any problems. We were greated in Ouagadougou Airport by our new country director, Shannon, and a few members of the Peace Corps/Burkina Faso Staff. Shannon handed us a short itinerary for the next few days, which I didn’t really look at too much. It wasn’t until later that night I noticed the cover of it said “Bienvenue! Welcome to “the land of the upright people!”. Almost two weeks later, I still don’t know the story behind this, or why Burkina was named that. It would have made my service much more diifficult had I came to a country where the people were pre-homo erectus! Hah!
Anyway, our first few days in Burkina, we stayed in a pretty sweet hotel. They had AC, and served us ice cream for lunch! This is huge in Africa. We had a lot of introductory sessions, and met a lot of the new staff. We also started the huge task of vaccinating everyone. Thanks to my time in Guinea, I already had all but 2 shots. Woohoo! Everyone else will be receiving about 15. Burkina has the same language requirements as Guinea, which means by the end of the three months of training, everyone must test at an intermediate-high level in French. As you all remember, last year, I knew no French and tested at a level of novice-low (the lowest level there is). Apparently all my hard work paid off because I tested this time at Intermediate-High on the first test! This means that I will be taking review and practice sessions of French for the first four weeks, which is when we receive the name of the site where we will live. At this point, I will stop taking French and begin taking classes in the local language at my site, which is called Jula. I’m pretty excited about this, and proud of myself for remembering that much French! This is a huge weight off my shoulders.
After our days in Ouagadougou, we went to the city where we will be living for our training for the next few months, called Ouahgouya. This town is also pretty nice. It has internet connection (although it’s slow and doesn’t work very well… it’s still internet!), electricity everyday, and a hotel with a pool.
Last week, I moved in with my host family, the Traore’s. My experience with them so far is much different than in Guinea! My family in Guinea, the Fofana’s was more of what I would consider a traditional African family. There were a lot of children, and my host mother stayed home most of the time and did house work, while my father went to work. My new family is not like that at all. My host parents just got married last year, so they are still a young couple, and don’t have any children yet. Although my host mom did tell me she wants to have at have 10 haha. My father works at pretty big bank that is in 6 west african countries and France, and my mother does small loans for the market women (at least that’s the best understanding I had of her work with my not so great French). They both work a lot, so I’m usually home with my 2 cousins that are staying here, Aissatou and Rashidatou. I think my parents are pretty well off though because we have satellite TV and I have a fan in my room, so I’m not complaining haha.
Another thing I’m rather excited about are the bikes. Now in Guinea, my bike was broken for the entire time I was there. I rode it once for about 5 minutes, then got a flat tire and pushed it back home. Now, in Burkina, there are brand spankin’ new bikes for everyone! I was a little nervous at first about having to rely so heavily on biking as my main mode of transportation, but now I’m getting used to it. I bike everywhere. I live about 2-3 miles from our training center so I bike to and from school everyday, as well as lunch, and anywhere else I have to do. It’s nice and relaxing… when it’s not 100°F and I’m sweating my butt off.
1. Filling the need of trained people to interested countries
2. Teaching other countries about America and it’s people
3. Teaching Americans about other countries
These are just summarized in my own words, but I’m sure you get the point. The main focus of the goals in cross-cultural exchange. This is an important part of a volunteer’s service. This allows us to integrate into communities and successfully do our job here. Integration is also a key factor in our safety here. If we can successfully integrate into our communities and become a respected member, life here will be much easier, and funner, for a two year service.
After staging, we headed off to Burkina. The entire trip took about one whole day, and was successfully completed without any problems. We were greated in Ouagadougou Airport by our new country director, Shannon, and a few members of the Peace Corps/Burkina Faso Staff. Shannon handed us a short itinerary for the next few days, which I didn’t really look at too much. It wasn’t until later that night I noticed the cover of it said “Bienvenue! Welcome to “the land of the upright people!”. Almost two weeks later, I still don’t know the story behind this, or why Burkina was named that. It would have made my service much more diifficult had I came to a country where the people were pre-homo erectus! Hah!
Anyway, our first few days in Burkina, we stayed in a pretty sweet hotel. They had AC, and served us ice cream for lunch! This is huge in Africa. We had a lot of introductory sessions, and met a lot of the new staff. We also started the huge task of vaccinating everyone. Thanks to my time in Guinea, I already had all but 2 shots. Woohoo! Everyone else will be receiving about 15. Burkina has the same language requirements as Guinea, which means by the end of the three months of training, everyone must test at an intermediate-high level in French. As you all remember, last year, I knew no French and tested at a level of novice-low (the lowest level there is). Apparently all my hard work paid off because I tested this time at Intermediate-High on the first test! This means that I will be taking review and practice sessions of French for the first four weeks, which is when we receive the name of the site where we will live. At this point, I will stop taking French and begin taking classes in the local language at my site, which is called Jula. I’m pretty excited about this, and proud of myself for remembering that much French! This is a huge weight off my shoulders.
After our days in Ouagadougou, we went to the city where we will be living for our training for the next few months, called Ouahgouya. This town is also pretty nice. It has internet connection (although it’s slow and doesn’t work very well… it’s still internet!), electricity everyday, and a hotel with a pool.
Last week, I moved in with my host family, the Traore’s. My experience with them so far is much different than in Guinea! My family in Guinea, the Fofana’s was more of what I would consider a traditional African family. There were a lot of children, and my host mother stayed home most of the time and did house work, while my father went to work. My new family is not like that at all. My host parents just got married last year, so they are still a young couple, and don’t have any children yet. Although my host mom did tell me she wants to have at have 10 haha. My father works at pretty big bank that is in 6 west african countries and France, and my mother does small loans for the market women (at least that’s the best understanding I had of her work with my not so great French). They both work a lot, so I’m usually home with my 2 cousins that are staying here, Aissatou and Rashidatou. I think my parents are pretty well off though because we have satellite TV and I have a fan in my room, so I’m not complaining haha.
Another thing I’m rather excited about are the bikes. Now in Guinea, my bike was broken for the entire time I was there. I rode it once for about 5 minutes, then got a flat tire and pushed it back home. Now, in Burkina, there are brand spankin’ new bikes for everyone! I was a little nervous at first about having to rely so heavily on biking as my main mode of transportation, but now I’m getting used to it. I bike everywhere. I live about 2-3 miles from our training center so I bike to and from school everyday, as well as lunch, and anywhere else I have to do. It’s nice and relaxing… when it’s not 100°F and I’m sweating my butt off.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
The 11th Hour
I cannot believe this time is here again. I'm leaving on Monday... only 4 days away!! The time is dwindling fast. Today was my last day of work, and now I have a busy weekend of goodbye's and packing. Although I must say, I am significantly more prepared this year than last year (my Dad is thanking me for this haha).
Last year, I did not pack one thing until the day before I left. I sat in my room for 6 hours with Hannah and Gab trying to figure how do you pack for a 2 year trip to Africa?!? Well, it didn't go too well because my poor Dad was woken up by a sobbing me at 1am asking him to help me pack. All he said was, "I was only half sleeping because I knew this was going to happen." Hahah.. thank god for that man or I would have had a nervous breakdown and ended up going to Guinea with nothing (although I must admit, i was quite upset when he took out all 30 lbs of my snacks, homemade popcorn, and drink mixes hahah). So this year, he informed me about 3 weeks ago to start packing because he didn't want a repeat of last year. I took his advice, and now I'm all packed with 4 days and 20 lbs to spare :) Much less stressful and no tears!
Other than packing, I've been enjoying all things American. This includes lots of margaritas, french fries, and hamburgers. I've been using the excuse that I'm going to Africa to eat and drink whatever I want haha. It's been wonderful.
I've found out a little bit more information about my training group. I'm leaving on June 7 with 21 other people who are all education volunteers. I know there are science and IT volunteers, but I'm not sure what other types there are. About 2 weeks after we leave, another group of about 60 volunteers, including health, small enterprise development, and girls empowerment, will be joining us in Burkina (including Ali!). This will be a huge group.. about 80 in total, compared to my 17 from Guinea.
I'm trying to go into this situation open-minded, but it's hard for me to not compare every aspect of this situation to Guinea. I loved my group (G-18) last year, and I wish they were all joining me in Burkina Faso. I've already been through staging and pre-service training once, so I know what to expect... kind of. I'm looking forward to it, but also dreading it. I know the trainers will pull out the dreaded flip charts and markers. And of course, we will do skits... these are the parts I would prefer if I could skip haha. But on the other hand, I'm excited to meet the new group and learn about Burkina. I'm, surprisingly, even looking forward to my new host family (although, I doubt they could compare to the wonderful Fofana family).
Well, I must get back to packing up my bedroom, but 4 days.. OMG! I look forward to getting everyone's letters haha. But no seriously, please mail me letters!!
Last year, I did not pack one thing until the day before I left. I sat in my room for 6 hours with Hannah and Gab trying to figure how do you pack for a 2 year trip to Africa?!? Well, it didn't go too well because my poor Dad was woken up by a sobbing me at 1am asking him to help me pack. All he said was, "I was only half sleeping because I knew this was going to happen." Hahah.. thank god for that man or I would have had a nervous breakdown and ended up going to Guinea with nothing (although I must admit, i was quite upset when he took out all 30 lbs of my snacks, homemade popcorn, and drink mixes hahah). So this year, he informed me about 3 weeks ago to start packing because he didn't want a repeat of last year. I took his advice, and now I'm all packed with 4 days and 20 lbs to spare :) Much less stressful and no tears!
Other than packing, I've been enjoying all things American. This includes lots of margaritas, french fries, and hamburgers. I've been using the excuse that I'm going to Africa to eat and drink whatever I want haha. It's been wonderful.
I've found out a little bit more information about my training group. I'm leaving on June 7 with 21 other people who are all education volunteers. I know there are science and IT volunteers, but I'm not sure what other types there are. About 2 weeks after we leave, another group of about 60 volunteers, including health, small enterprise development, and girls empowerment, will be joining us in Burkina (including Ali!). This will be a huge group.. about 80 in total, compared to my 17 from Guinea.
I'm trying to go into this situation open-minded, but it's hard for me to not compare every aspect of this situation to Guinea. I loved my group (G-18) last year, and I wish they were all joining me in Burkina Faso. I've already been through staging and pre-service training once, so I know what to expect... kind of. I'm looking forward to it, but also dreading it. I know the trainers will pull out the dreaded flip charts and markers. And of course, we will do skits... these are the parts I would prefer if I could skip haha. But on the other hand, I'm excited to meet the new group and learn about Burkina. I'm, surprisingly, even looking forward to my new host family (although, I doubt they could compare to the wonderful Fofana family).
Well, I must get back to packing up my bedroom, but 4 days.. OMG! I look forward to getting everyone's letters haha. But no seriously, please mail me letters!!
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